


Practical Application of Learned Skills

by Iambic



Category: Daredevil (Comics)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Character Study, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-11-17
Updated: 2009-11-17
Packaged: 2017-10-03 04:59:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Iambic/pseuds/Iambic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Danny thinks it'll be a good idea to learn how to fight like Matt does.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Practical Application of Learned Skills

Danny always ties his mask over his eyes when they spar. At first Matt would try to dissuade him, saying it gave him a disadvantage because Danny wasn't used to fighting blind. "But that's why I'm doing it," Danny said. "I need to practice without relying on sight, because I can't always count on being able to see." So he tied the mask on and Matt let him leave it and then thoroughly trounced him again, but Danny laughed and thanked as usual.

"You're going to beat me whether or not I can see," he added later. "I might as well learn from it."

This time it's nighttime anyway, and presumably dark inside the warehouse where they've taken to sparring. Danny's experience is showing; he lands a kick and lands just out of reach, making Matt come to him to reciprocate. The problem is that Danny isn't as good at judging where his opponent is, and Matt gets the jump on him before he can move enough to avoid it. Matt punches and feels Danny's lip split under his fist, feels liquid on his fingers. Danny staggers back and throws out a punch after him, anticipating a follow-through that Matt doesn't carry out.

"You're going easy on me," Danny says, standing up again. He's out of breath but not bothered too much by the hit, thanks to his martial arts background. "Real opponent would've hit me while I was down."

"Or they would've taken the opportunity to move out of the way," Matt counters "Especially if you were beating them, or you couldn't see." He circles around behind Danny. Too easy; Danny swivels and kicks out while on the ground, nearly knocking Matt's legs from under him.

"Wouldn't've said anything, either," Danny says as an afterthought, hopping to his feet and charging again. This time, Matt catches his leg and throws him. Danny rolls with it and comes back up too far away for either of them to take the advantage. He turns slowly and pauses, listening. Matt stands still and waits for him to give in and move.

He does, but instead of charging again he demonstrates his capacity to learn and jumps into the air, effectively out of sight for a moment until he comes down again, off to Matt's side. Matt lunges toward him, but Danny jumps again, and lands on him this time, bringing them both crashing to the ground.

"Effective," Matt says, once he's got his wind back. Danny groans and rolls off of him, wiping his mouth where Matt split his lip. "Puts you in a pretty compromising position, though."

"I think you're making fun of me," Danny says, without getting up from his sprawl on the floor. "I didn't mean to do that."

"That's the problem with jumping blind," Matt replies, sitting up. "You've got to learn to judge distances first." He stands up, wincing at muscles that went stiff with contact with the cold floor. The problem with practicing in civvies is that he doesn't have the insulation of his costume. While nice when working out, he cools down quickly this way.

"Need a hand up?" he adds, holding his out. Danny reaches for it and misses a few times before grabbing it and pulling himself up.

"Another round?" Danny asks, but he sounds as ready to stop as Matt feels. There's a difference between a good workout and sheer stupid bravado, and Matt in his greater experience has learned it by now.

He reaches over and unties Danny's mask. "I think that's enough for one night," Matt says, handing the strip of fabric back to him with a half-smile. "Unless you're really that eager for me to take you down again."

"One of these days," Danny says with a laugh, "I'll actually beat you without taking myself down with you."

"Not with your eyes closed," Matt replies.

 

It's pitch black in this corridor, and Danny would laugh if he weren't making an effort not to be heard. Looks like all those sparring sessions with Matt while blindfolded are about to pay off, though. He edges along the wall, listening for footsteps or the sound of a lurker shifting his weight in the dark. He can't hear anything right now, but that means nothing at all.

There's an open doorway at the end of the corridor which he locates by touch and then steps blindly through. Edging around the corner, his foot skids a bit on the floor, and he jumps out of the way just in time. A shot reverberates around the room, which sounds fairly large by the echo, and Danny hears the bullet embed itself in the wall. A shuffle toward the middle of the room is presumably the person who shot the gun; Danny evades them as carefully as possible. Now that he knows the danger, he's doubly careful not to make a sound. But the person with the gun keeps shuffling around, so Danny takes a chance and edges around them, punching them once to the back of the head. The person drops, and Danny leaps out of the way again, but no one else attacks.

There's a smell of damp and possibly mildew from the other end of the room. The floor feels smooth and cold beneath his feet; cement, most likely. He's in the middle of the room, but he can't hear anyone else, so he strikes out toward to source of the scent. Eventually he comes to a wall, which is cool and damp and slippery to the touch. He feels along it until he finds a door, and turns the handle as quietly as he can. Then he pulls it open and flattens himself against the wall; again narrowly evading discovery, as two people run noisily out. Danny listens for their breathing -- he's been holding his own breath since he opened the door -- and strikes out when he locates their faces. Once they're down, he slips through the doorway and into another room.

This one's faintly lit by a guttering lamp in one corner, but to Danny's eyes it's almost too bright to see. He shades them with one hand and looks around. There's evidence of a recent fight; several prone bodies have been moved over to the sides of the room. Danny doesn't bother checking them; he doesn't plan on coming back this way if all goes well, and if not, these bodies will be the least of his concerns. He shuts his eyes and steps across the room and into what he can only imagine is another corridor.

When his feet touch a ledge his eyes open in surprise, and he can see dim light filtering down a flight of stairs. There's another body propped up against the wall at the top of the first set of steps, and when Danny climbs up he recognises him as Matt. Matt's breathing slowly but steadily, and there's a lot of blood on his costume but no obviously life-threatening wounds. He's got a lot of more minor cuts, evidence of a knife fight, and it's pretty clear that bloodloss is why he's unconscious now. Danny bends down on one knee and pulls Matt in toward him, then attempts to pick him up. It's tough -- Matt is probably significantly heavier than Danny, possessing a much thicker frame. Danny manages to get him sort of upright, sort of slung over his shoulders, but enough to pull him up the rest of the stairs.

They end up in someone's basement, and Danny doesn't bother investigating to find out whose because that can only end in another fight. Instead he turns on his cell phone -- hero's best friend, really -- and calls Night Nurse up. "It's Daredevil," he says, and Night Nurse sighs audibly. "He got into a fight, sent 'em running, but never got out -- I went in after him, and found him passed out on a flight of stairs, bleeding all over."

"Who is this, and where are you?" Night Nurse sounds tired but resigned. Danny usually feels vaguely guilty when he calls her like this, because she is a busy woman, but this time around it's really, really necessary. Matt will be okay if he gets help, but if not...

"This is Iron Fist," Danny says, "and we're somewhere in the Kitchen. Can't you get Strange to find us?"

"Daredevil and Iron Fist are lost somewhere in Hell's Kitchen?" Night Nurse just sounds skeptical now. When Danny doesn't rise to the bait, she sighs again and shifts some papers around, by the sounds of it. "I'll ask him. If you can figure out where you are, give me a call."

"Yes, ma'am," Danny replies, but she's already hung up.

He turns back to Matt, resting a hand on his cheek, the only uncovered skin available. Matt's skin is too cold to the touch, and there really isn't anything Danny can do about it -- not while they're in public, where other people might happen to see Matt's face. But Danny leaves his hand on Matt's uncovered cheek for the little good it'll do, and stays where he is until Dr Strange and Night Nurse materialise with unnecessary fanfare in the middle of the cellar.

Night Nurse frowns at the faint light filtering in through a grate. "How can you see anything in here?" she asks, as Danny retracts his hand. He feels sort of extraneous now, even though he wasn't really doing anything before.

He shrugs. "It's not so hard to get around without seeing."

Night Nurse patches Matt up quickly -- one of the many nice things about her is that she understands the need for a quick and unnoticeable treatment. It helps that Dr Strange is there to help; he's still leery of big magic, apparently, but he can do things like stop bloodflow and raise Matt's body temperature and hold things while Night Nurse works her own brand of magic. Then they all wait around until Matt wakes up. Neither Night Nurse nor Dr Strange comment on Danny's continued presence, but then again in their circle, there's not much secret. Even the things they keep secret from themselves tend to register on others' radars.

When Matt opens his eyes, Danny sits down in relief, and doesn't really pay attention while Night Nurse explains exactly what happened to him. Then Matt is bundled into some spare civvies that Night Nurse apparently keeps around for this kind of thing, and Danny gets up to help him out of the clinic and into the car. Night Nurse drives them back to Matt's place and helps Danny help Matt up the fire escape and into his apartment, while Matt glares at both of them. Once inside, Night Nurse takes off again, leaving Danny to face Matt's ire alone.

As it happens, it's not much. Matt sinks down onto the nearest soft surface -- the couch, in fact -- and leans back. "Looks like you were right about those practice sessions."

Danny smirks, because Matt can't see him do it. "Looks like it." He hesitates, and then sits down next to Matt on the couch, resting an arm along the back behind Matt's head. "You're gonna be fine," he adds, settling in more comfortably. "Might want to call in sick to work today, though."

"Think I'll sleep," Matt says, and he sounds exhausted, weary to the bone. Danny's been getting better at hearing these things.

"You do that," Danny says, smiling to himself. "I'll be right here if you need me."

"I figured that out myself," Matt retorts, words slurring together as he sinks back into sleep. Danny listens to his breathing slow down and even out and smiles, and doesn't move.


End file.
